Imperial Russian Stout | Stone Brewing

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Reviews by ScottyC54:

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22 oz bomber shared between two snifters. Pours pitch black in appearance with a 1 finger head of medium-brown colored foam. Sweet, bitter chocolate, roasted malt, and strong coffee-bean flavors on the nose. Light notes of vanilla and toffee accompany. Medium-heavy weight, and very dense and creamy. Loads of bitter chocolate and expresso up front with a mild sweetness setting in middleways. An awesome blance of roasted malt sees this one through to the end. The aftertaste is composed of strong, toasty malt, bittered chocolate, and intense coffee.

Overall, an excellent example of the style with a little added sweetness. Sickeningly sweet, and euphorically roasty, this beer is world-class in all aspects.

Pour into a Pint glass from a 22oz bottle, pitch black pour with a fluffy tan head that turned into some very solid lace that hung on the glass from start to finish. Aroma held vanilla and alcohol notes with some roasted malts trying to peek out...they remained covered until the first taste. The taste is bitter/roasted coffee and malts with the alcohol present but not over powering, deep roasted flavors and some wood hints show up as the tasting goes on. The mouthfeel is so dead on for the style, thick/heavy on the tongue while leaving a nice roasted mild coffee/roasted flavor at the end. Overall I'm very impressed with this offering, I love RIS as a whole and I've had a lot of Stones products...this is a winner and I will pick it up when I can.

Late Spring 2003 release. Glossy sable. No highlights, no edges, no nothing. It isn't possible for a beer to be more light nullifying than this one is. The head is one of the darkest that I've ever seen. It's a menacing shade of cocoa brown, the perfect color compliment to the beer on which it rests. It also puts the lie to the notion that high-ABV beer tends not to have large, persistent heads. Even though there isn't a glass smothering amount of lace, there's more than enough not to spoil a world-class appearance.

The nose is outstanding. It practically oozes heavily roasted black malt with all of the aromas that go along with it. Bittersweet chocolate fudge swirls around chunks of crushed coffee bean with generous lashings of molasses. The faintest hint of alcohol is more than welcome since it gives the aroma a seriousness that all good RISs possess. Perhaps nearly three years in the bottle is a bit too long to expect hops to persevere. However, I still have hope that they'll make a cameo on the palate.

Stone RIS is phenomenal! It's everything that I had hoped for and so much more. I have never experienced a more mind-blowing, darkly delicious, megaton malt bomb in my life. First and foremost, it possesses a monolithic malt backbone that gives granite an inferiority complex. Rivulets of melted chocolate, espresso, blackstrap molasses and the finest ouzo combine to create a raging river of mouthfilling (and belly warming) bliss.

The hops haven't completely faded, although I'm sure they're a shadow of their former 2003 selves. As is usually the case, they make an appearance on the finish when the malt deluge has finally begun to abate. I'd love to taste this beer fresh, but I have to say that it's an ass kicker of the highest order when aged. It's amazing how long the flavor lingers. The licorice/anise/ouzo hangs on seemingly forever.

This particular vintage clocks in at 9.47% and it feels every bit of that (even if it doesn't taste like it). This is a beer that is brewed to be sipped. It's doing an admirable job of warming me up, which I needed since I just came in from snowblowing half a foot of snow off my driveway. Each mouthful leads me to thank the boys at Stone for such an incredible beer. Although I don't usually buy in cases, this is a 'case beer' if there ever was one.

The mouthfeel is, in a word, perfection. It's as if the brewers read my mind and designed it especially for me. I've had thicker Imperial Stouts, but none that possessed this degree of heavy silkiness. Try as I might, I cannot find a flaw. Perfect mouth presence, perfect coating finish, just... plain... perfect.

SIRS is Stone's finest creation and is infinitely deserving of a place in the pantheon of the greatest beers ever created. I've run out of adjectives for 'great', but I haven't quite run out of beer. So if you'll excuse me, it's time to savor the final few swallows. Stone Russian Imperial Stout is a tour de force and is the finest stout in existence, bar none.

Presentation: 22 oz brown bomber, Limited Spring 2002 Release on the label gives you an idea of freshness not that it matters being that this brew is a towering 9.47% abv.

Appearance: Big pillowing foamy tan head is slow to form as the bubbles of carbonation struggle to the top of this thick crude oil black brew. The head does dissipate but the there is a lace that sticks around for the show.

Taste: Nearly syrupy from a huge malty body, carbonation is at a medium crispness with an extremely viscous mouth feel. First the flavours go sweet with maltiness are fruity flavours of black currant and prune. Malt sweetness upfront is more of a mild molasses with a deep following of roasted grain and a chocolaty backing that sticks around until the finish. Hop are thrown in for good measure but dont seem to get in the way too much. Alcohol flexes quick with a faint solvent flavour as well as the fruitiness providing some esters for more complexity. A smoothness creeps in out of nowhere and pulls the flavours in further which saturates the taste buds. Deep within, after the brew warms up a bit there is a dark caramel flavour that sits next to beer heaven. After the initial wave of flavour there seems to be a Zen of balance as all of the flavours meld together in perfect formation. The roasted grain lingers with an endless trail cleaning up all other flavours in its wake.

Notes: Devastatingly flavourful, highly drinkable and very deceiving for a brew at 9.47% abv. This beer shows-off Stone Brewings prowess to take a style a bring it to a greater level than others.

Bottled 2/21/2014. Darker than average, mahogany pour. Absolutely opaque in the glass with a dark cocoa colored head and streams of carbonation rising up all over the place. Aroma seems pretty muted for some reason, but I get strong notes of roasted malt, char, dark fruit, bittersweet chocolate, molasses, and oak. Medium-full mouth feel with good carbonation, very well balanced and easy to drink. On the taste, I get lots of dark malts, bitter, unsweetened coffee, slight licorice, vanilla, bakers chocolate, and raisins.

Just picked up three bottles today of the 2014 release, super surprised to find it at the beer store. I hear the 2015 release comes out tomorrow. Went home chilled two bottles and put one in the cellar. I get a lot of chocolate its kind of nice. Sipping on a glass of it right now, well watching March Madness, what could be better?

Pours a dark chocolate color, fully opaque, with a quickly dissipating short head and some lacing. The smell is heavily roasted malts, chocolate, vanilla, cocoa, a little smoke. A bold and robust aroma. The taste is a little more malt forward than the nose, lots of chocolate, cocoa, molasses, vanilla, some caramel, still a little smoky. Intense flavors. Very smooth, creamy, full bodied, the taste lingers for a while.

A classic of the style, and one of my favorites. This is one RIS everyone should try.

I have versions of this from 2011-2016, hopefully its enjoyable! dark in color with a brown hue and nice brown head with good retention. On the nose is dark fruit, booze, tobacco, leather, burnt malts, very roasty and some spice present. similar note on the palate, plus some slightly bitter chocolate notes. mouthfeel is about right for the style.

Pours an amazing black with brown head but quickly downhill from there. Smells of burnt malts and boozy alcohol that carries through the taste and finish. Mouthful is a plus but overall seems like maybe some age is a good idea. The burnt flavor and smell is all too powerful and dampers what seems like an otherwise pleasurable experience.

A: Extremely dark, no more than a millimeter of beer on the edge permits any light through. Decent sized, dark mocha head. Leaves no lacing on the glass. (4)

S: Chocolate and overripe banana. Prunes and raisins. Heavily-roasted coffee beans come out as it sits and warms (4)

T: Tons of rich chocolate, with supporting notes of nuts, cherries, dates, and figs. Some alcohol apparent, but not excessive. Little hop character, some alcohol bitterness in the finish. (4)

M: Very smooth and unctuous in the mouth. However, it leaves an unpleasant grainy sensation that lingers for quite a while and really detracts from the beer. (2)

O: This beer is a miniature tragedy. So good, up to the finish which is really unpleasant. I could just drink faster, so as to experience more taste and less aftertaste, but that's probably a poor choice with a 10.5% beer. So, I'm torn. Half of the time I like this beer, half of the time I dislike it. Unfortunate. (3)

Smell: Sweet with strong coffee aromas, with some toasted/burnt hints.

Taste: Full-bodied with great balance of malt and hops. Dominated by toasted coffee, but with some chocolate flavor as well. Taste starts sweet with malts, then comes the roasted coffee flavors, and then a little bitterness from the hops. Overall a great combination.

Mouthfeel: Full-bodied, but smooth.

Overall: Great stout. Best if you enjoy a combination both strong hops and malts. I will buy this again.

Pours a jet black like motor oil I held it up to a pretty bright light and nothing shined thru a bit of a mocha colored head settled nicely on top perfect.Hops in a imperial stout well this one has a big dose that come thru in the aroma with some cocoa powder and deeply roasted malt.Big complexities going on in the flavor department roasted coffee followed by a medicinal quality a touch of smoke and hop dryness in the finish.A beer that lives up to the billing big bold and beautiful man what a beer!

Appearance  Black as night with a ruby tinge. The head was kind of weak but lasted the glass really well.

Smell  Super stout flavors. Huge coffee and chocolate mixed with molasses and malt to make this an olfactory orgasm.

Taste  My Lord! The big coffee (Starbucks finest) has a lot of company in here. Raw brown sugar is a big player, along with chocolate syrup, prunes and raisins, kahlua, light toffee, and a complicated flavor that reminds me of tiramisu. This thing is awesome.

Mouthfeel  Low carbonation, typical for the style, and a smoothness that is beyond reproach.

Drinkability  I dont know how Stone gets their brews so smooth, but this went down like silk.

Comments  Im wary of being the newbie that rates beers too high  especially after my Ruination spasm attack (Im still twitching)  but this brew embodies everything I believe a Stout should represent.

Update  The Stone RIP has established a reputation as one of the best beers made in America, and it is very well-deserved. In comparing the 2003 to the 2005, the only dig I can find is that the Appearance isnt perfect. Otherwise, its as close to straight 5s as you can get without gettin there.

The nose is incredible and changes dramatically as the beer warms. The sipping flavors come so fast they really make you slow down when drinking. You almost want to set up a tent out in the street and start telling people about it.

The Mouthfeel is impeccable and just does fall short of some of the best that Ive ever had. Drinkability? You gotta be kidding me! I raise a toast to Greg and the entire Stone staff for putting everything together (once again). Cheers!

Update  I popped one of my cellared summer-released 2005s in June 2006. Its just starting to get into the sweet spot. The alcohol is picking up steam and the sugars are opening up nicely. It still has plenty of body and will be perfect on its second b-day.

Pours a dark and dense black, essentially no color coming through this beer at all, with a thick, creamy, deep-tan head that has great staying power. Nice lacing left on the glass, especially for a RIS. The nose hits with some bittersweet chocolate and dense, dark fruit sweetness (think raisins and prunes). The initial taste is very sweet to the tongue, following heavy with that raisin-prune flavor, along with bits of anise. Roasted malts are plentiful as well as the bittersweet chocolate flavor that sits heavy on the back of the tongue. Halfway through the sip, the oats, grains, woody, and burnt oak flavors come alive followed by a final bite of bitterness that resonates in the mouth upon swallowing. Coffee is heavy and noticeable as the main aftertaste in this one. Very nice. Very heavy and creamy with medium-low carbonation.

Good RIS here. In the beginning, a bit too sweet for my tastes, however, as it warms up, it becomes more balanced with the deep oats, grains, oak, and coffee flavors. This beer definitely gets better as the glass gets warmer and the sweetness starts to mellow out a bit.

EDIT: 4/5/2013

2007 vintage, thanks Chris. Either this beer transforms amazingly with age, or my palate has been refined over the last half year, but this was much better than I remember it from the first time (and I still thought it was pretty good). Less of the nearly-cloying anise and licorice (much less, actually) and quite a bit more cocoa powder and even a hefty dose of coffee beans in the aftertaste. Decent roast from the malts and still a solid alcohol warmth after all these years. Mouth feel wasn't as amazing as I remembered it, though. No oxidation - wow.

A: Black with a small brown and thick head, Nice lacings. A really good looking beer.

S: Very balanced and round, yet with plenty of bold aromas. Hard roasted malts, chocolate, vanilla, dark fruits and coffee - all listed in order of strength. Some alcohol in the nose.

T: Really good, smooth and powerful at the same time. It's similar to the smell with lots of roasted malts, chocolate, coffee and vanilla. Wonderful subtle fruity notes. The finish is quite bitter with a faint hop note, wood and a hint of licorice. The alcohol provides a warming feeling in the finish. It develops nicely in the glass - the roasted character and the fruity notes gain strength as the chocolate takes a step back.

M: Not overly full-bodied. Smooth mouthfeel and mellow carbonation.

D: Very good. More than a year in the cellar was really good for this one.

This poured like used motor oil. It's just plain black, without an ounce of head aside from the small ring around the inside of the glass. It leaves a delicate and small lace as it goes down.

The taste is outright powerful, with a hint of licorice. The alcoholic content is certainly present, although not overwhelmingly so. All things considered, it's a well-balanced beer. I've had some imperial stouts lately that didn't quite live up to the name, but this one definitely does not come up short. In fact, it could almost be toned down a bit.